St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-03
He Says All Animals Possess
the Faculty of Mimiery Pc
culiar to Monkeys.
And That They Understand the
Meaning Of Words Just as
a Foreigner Does.
The Hardest Trick to Teach
a Dog Is to Jump a
Rope.


was the remark of lady as she watched
troupe of performing CANNES in a
circus that recently visited st. Paul.
The antics of those educated dogs are
trul y wonderful. and people who believe
lnat the majority of them are not worth
the TAX lnat they cost annually are sur
prlsea 10 see TO what an extent they
may be trained to obey their masters
commands. A gentleman living in ST,
Paul, who owns number of fine dogs
and who knows the course of instrIfc-
ton through which they must pass i'm
order to be stars, was seen bv GI,oRE
representative few days ago When
asked if he would give away the secret
of the profession he said: 's'There is no
secret about it. 1t is all done by
the power of kindness. There is no
conjuring or trick of the trade. The
only qualities needed are kindness. pa
thence and perseverance. You have got
to be fond of the animals and in Sympa-
thy with. Now, whenever am around
strange horse or dog l always try to
teach them something. All you have to
do is to make friends with your dogs
and then you will have troupe of per-
formers that will make a theatrical
manager green with envy, you do not
have to buy bouquets for the prima
donna; none of your comedians will
strike for raise of salary when there
is applause from the gallery, and there
Is not a continual draft upon the receipts
for new and expensive costumes.
Whenever a horse or dog is educated
by kindness he is not simply mesmeriZed
and under the control of one person, but
he has learned something that he will
never forget. He may get ugly and
fractions at times, and make up his
mind that he will not obey orders. Then
you must persuade him to behave him
self. That is done by kindness,
too, not by thrashing. Most people
who see a troupe of performing
dogs think that they are ill-treated
and beaten in order to make them do
tricks. That is not SO. You must go at
them in the simplest way. You can
never teach an animal in any other way
than the one have told you, sympathy
and patience. There is great deal in
doing yourself what you wish an animal
to do. All animals possess that faculty
of mimicry that formerly was supposed
to belong only to the monkey family.
Suppose l take lot of unframed dogs
and try to teach them certain trick.
Do you suppose / will begin to beat
them? Well, no. They will simply
wonder what am beating them for
You have got to take them one at
time, talk to him, pull him about, give
him the order and then show him what
it means. After while he knows how
to do it by hearing the order. Then
take another and show him how it is
done, and after while all of them will
know how to execute fall I'M or
face about without being obliged to
touch them.'
do you mean, then, that animals un-
derstand words?' ''That is just what
mean. They learn the meaning of a
word just as a foreigner does. If you
were teaching a foreigner a word you
would speak it and then illustrate it.
That is the way dogs are trained and
anybody can do it as wef5 as | can.
Every word you say to an aHamal must
mean something, unless yOe are simply
petting or careSsing him. One of the
most difficult tricks l have to teach a
dog is to jump the rope. Every dog has
natural dread for rope, for he seems
to think that it is to be used only on his
neck, or in attaching tin pail to his
narrative. Dogs can be taught easier
than horses. They are natural comedi-
ans. Concerning the most intelligent
kind of dog. | think the poodle or Spitz
make the best pupils. The coach dog
naturally likes to follow horses; the
shepherd dog naturally takes to sheep
and cattle; hunting dogs naturally to the
hunt. and so on through the different
breeds. One reason why l think dogs
have more brains than horses is the
fact that dog will try to take care
intelligen than they are given
credit for, but they are the most timid
dogs know of. For this reason large
amount of their natural intelligence is
scared out of them. One of the most
intelligent dogs | ever owned was a
mongrel that was given to ME to take
out of town and lose. | kept him. and
found him very apt pupil. With
horses one must be more firm and dig
nifed than with dogs. With the latter
there is often chance to be funny.
The dog has a strong leaning towards
comedy, in preference to heavy
reprOof to horse he becomes high
spirited, while if you treat dog in the
same manner he will lie down cOwed
and brollen-spirited, l like to begin
teaching dog when he is about year
old. They are easier to teach then. To
begin teaching a dog when he is five
years old is like beginning to teach
man when he is forty; for at five
years a dog is about as mature
and fixed in his ways and inclinationS
las man of two score years. think
the easiest way is to take couple of
puppies and teach them together. A
spirit of rivalry is created between
them, and there is a wider scope for
imitation. If begin teaching puppy
by the time he is five years old. he will
have larger repertoire of tricks: In
fact, there are very few tricks that
dog cannot be taught, and l am not sure
but that they could be taught to read
and write. A. S. G.